Retirement & Traveling Asia For the Near Future

If you have been reading a bit then you probably already know that we (my family & I) are preparing for a big move. I don’t know where to yet, but I am retiring from the U.S. Air Force in a few months and we are going to the Philippines for a bit to do all of my VA paperwork. Making sure the healthcare is in order has to be priority one. It’s a large move because of what the goals are and we no longer have a job that says, “You’ll be here by such and such date”. It made things easier in the past, but I am ready to have that huge obligation off of my shoulders. It’s been a while (20 yrs) and I get to be me, stay at home and home school my 2 youngest, and build my writing goals and websites if I choose too.

In addition to the pending retirement, you may have seen that I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, chronic neck sprain, and more issues over the last few years. I take a lot of pills for the different ailments and I am hoping they don’t kill me first. I literally take 20 pills each day and wear a pain patch 5-7 days per week. You should see the determination I have to create and publish a 2,000-word post on a regular basis. It takes everything I have but writing is also a hobby as much as it’s my place of zen. This is also the reason I stopped podcasting and rarely YouTube. I forget what I am saying and most of the time I don’t feel well enough to record, edit and then publish.

Retiring, moving and medical exams with the VA are exciting yet a lot to take in. The tentative plan that will get us through the stress is being thrown around at the moment. I figure the movers will come in January, then we’ll get our retired ID’s, fly to Manila and finally, then finally see the VA for starting my claim and get housing. Once the VA is wrapped up I am hoping we can travel to the states to see everyone without a time limit. I want to stay for as long as we want and see as many people that we can. I only was alloted 30 days over the summer when my mom was admitted to ICU and it was an awful feeling flying back to South Korea to finish my time while I know my mom is still suffering and needs help. Finally, I am hoping that after the trip to the U.S. that we can come back find land and build a house to settle in.

Some people question whether or not being an expat is a good or a bad thing. I see it as an opportunity to not work to survive with the mountain of stress that most Americans live their lives under. I no longer have that American dream of getting a second career, own a house, retiring, spend time with grand kids and die. That last bit is a bit harsh, but my point is that I truly don’t know when my time is going to be up and I want to be surrounded with family and enjoy the years while I currently can. My oldest kids will start lives of their own and of course they can come and visit and I will come visit them too. My dad stayed in Rhode Island till the end waiting for us to come visit him. I wish I could have visited more but it wasn’t in the cards. I don’t want to just pick a state and wait like he did. He taught me a lot and this was a big one.

Being an expat in the Philippines gives me a lot of opportunity to write and do more with my time. Being close to the ocean, fishing, going off the grid, and everything that comes with it is more of a dream come true than anything else. I know that a lot of people are skeptical of the new president in the Philippines, but he is trying to root out corruption at all levels of government and eradicate the blooming crystal meth problem happening in the Philippines. He has a lot to deal with and he certainly has not personally killed 3500 people or whatever the number is now. He won in a landslide election because the Philippines needs someone like Bernie Sanders to come in. Rodrigo Duterte is not the same as Bernie Sanders before anyone hollers, but they both want to change their country for better and are passionate about stomping out the corruption in the government.

I always keep a close ear to the ground and I will wait to see what will happen. The point is that I am not worried about me or my family going there. I have heard about the media spinning it to their benefit, but most of the intense negative coverage stems from him not waiting to give the U.S. military bases, resources, and saying no. America doesn’t like when other leaders (especially smaller powered ones) say no.

So that’s about it. I am going to continue pushing out lots of content through the coming months and I’m averaging about 10 posts per month so it seems to be doing well. If there is something you would like me to cover that I have not please feel free to let me know. I have about 48 drafts pending publishing so there is a ton of stuff coming through the pipe to include some books. I am excited and I have gotten a lot of great feedback from many posts in 2016 so please keep it coming.

I am a writer, podcaster, and YouTuber. I enjoy talking and writing about technology and science, but also social media marketing and entrepreneurship. I love competitive business and getting to know people.

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